This invention pertains to plural electrodes for application to a living subject having skin, to accomplish effects related to the passage of electric current.
Around the turn of the century the art disclosed a plethora of electrode types for applying "electric treatments" to the human body. The electrodes were normally placed upon the body in relation to the position of an organ to be treated.
In general, the electrodes were disclosed merely as structures and were not related to any undesirable side effects the electric current might have upon the skin. An example is the U.S. Pat. No. 562,765, issued in 1896 to Horton, Jr. The usual objective was merely to decrease the contact resistance to the skin.
F. Levit, in "Archives of Dermatology", Vol. 98, No. 5, November 1968, reports on pps. 505-7 the production of long term anhidrosis by electric treatment of the feet, or the hands. However, he discloses only the use of "a two inch square of sheet lead" as an electrode. This is "placed in a shallow pan containing enough water to just cover the palm or soles"; there being one electrode and one pan for each palm or sole. His test results indicate that the treatment inhibits perspiration (sweat) where the electric current is provided. Importantly, he says, "Too much current or too long a treatment can produce vesiculation (blisters or burns)".
Using known electrodes tends to result in iontophoretic burns. These are not caused by elevated temperature but by a spontaneous effect of the electric current on the skin. Vesiculation, or blisters, require a relatively long time to heal and disappear.
A paper by Leeming and Howland in the "Journal of the American Medical Association", Vol. 214, No. 9, Nov. 30, 1970, recites instances of burns but does not present means for preventing such trauma.